By Eli-Kun

"*I must concentrate* Ryu thought. Ryu was meditating. He often did this after hours of pure physical training. Images of Ken came to mind. "*He’s so cute when he smiles. Did I just think that? I can’t stop thinking of him. When he kissed me I felt complete and then I kissed him. I want to do it again. Why am I thinking that? It’s wrong! We’re both male but…stop it! I must concentrate on something else…"

"So much confuses me. How would Ken react if I told him how I felt? He’s my only friend. I can’t afford to lose him. I can’t afford to jeopardize our friendship, but could we be more? Sensei would not approve and the other students would make fun, but that doesn’t matter. I should tell Ken how much he means to me, but how?*" Ryu continued to think.

Ken noticed Ryu meditating. His face didn’t betray the confusion in his mind. He showed no emotion. His features seemed oddly peaceful.

*Why is he so damn attractive right now?* Ken thought,*why do I want to find out more about him? Heh, I can’t believe I got away with kissing him! That was fun! He’s so innocent. I’ll have to teach him a few things, except I’m also kind of naïve."

"I’ll love him either way, even if we never went past friendship. Hm, what would happen if I kissed him in the middle of meditation? Nah, better not risk it. I can’t take my eyes off him, though. Maybe I should try meditating. Damn, I don’t know how Ryu is able to keep this up for long. I’m thinking of Ryu even more. I might as well just admit it. I’m in love with Ryu. I guess I’m gay, ah well, or maybe I’m bi. Adolescence sucks!*"

Ken moved closer to Ryu. An automatic smile came to his face. *I wonder what else Ryu would let me get away with* Ken thought. Ken decided to see how much concentration Ryu had on meditating.

“Ryu-chan, you are a frog” Ken whispered. He knew that Ryu didn’t have much in common with a frog. He simply wanted to get a reaction out of the other boy. He didn’t succeed. Ryu remained stone-faced. Ken started to tousle his dark hair. There was still no response.

Ryu heard ken whisper to him. He felt Ken's fingers through his hair. “Ken Masters is great” he heard Ken whisper. Ryu fought the urge to laugh.

"*Kawaii*" Ryu thought. Ken brushed his fingers on Ryu's knee. It tickled slightly, though Ryu didn’t let that show. Ken continued to try to get his attention. He continued to whisper things about how wonderful and sexy Ken Masters is.

Ryu found it all quite amusing. He found it irritating when Ken started to blow into his ear. "*He still doesn’t seem to notice Ken thought, I wonder how long it will take him to comment on this.*"

He rested his head on Ryu's lap. He looked up at the meditating boy and smiled. Ryu started to blush slightly. Ken stifled the urge to laugh.

Eventually, Ryu looked down at the head on his lap. The blonde boy grinned back at him.
“Ken, what are you doing?” Ryu asked.

“Nothing” Ken responded.

“Oh, really?”

“Of course, would I lie to you?”

“Well…”

“Well, what?”

“Why is your head on my lap?”

“You’re comfy”

“Would you mind getting off?”

“Yes”

Ryu let out a frustrated sigh.

“Will you please get your head off my lap?” he asked.

“Sure.” Ken didn’t move. Ryu glared down at him. He pouted as a response.

“Ken!” Ryu said.

“What?” Ken responded innocently.

“You said you’d get off me.”

“I didn’t say I’d do it now.”

“Sensei’s coming.” Ken suddenly bolted up as a response. There was no sign of Gouken. Ken glared at Ryu, who was laughing.

“You tricked me!” Ken said.

“What? It worked” Ryu responded. Ken gave Ryu a noogie. Ryu got out of it and twisted his arm behind his back. Ken's fingers reached out and tickled Ryu on the wrist. Ryu maintained his hold. Ken eventually twisted out of it.

The boys continued to spar. At one point Gouken watched them to see how well they were paying attention to what he taught them. He was usually able to leave them alone to train among themselves. He concentrated more on his younger and less advanced students.

“Ryu” Gouken said.

“Hai, sensei?” Ryu responded as he looked towards Gouken. Ken didn’t notice and accidentally punched Ryu in the face. He immediately seemed worried.

“Gomen, Ryu-chan. Are you okay?” Ken said. Ryu nodded dumbly. Gouken gave stern glares to both of them.

“You should ignore any distraction,” he said.

“Hai, sensei” they both responded.

“Ryu, you seem particularly distracted. Is there something bothering you?”

“No” Ryu said.

“Ryu, you could never deceive me.”

Suddenly, a younger student came to Gouken. He seemed panicked. “Sensei! Sensei!” he said.

“What is it?” Gouken asked.

“There’s something wrong with Kazuki-kun.”

“What happened?”

“I’m not exactly sure. He got hurt.” Gouken followed the child to see what was wrong, leaving Ken and Ryu to themselves.

“Ryu, are you okay?” Ken asked, “You do seem distracted.”

“Uh…Ken, could I tell you something?” Ryu asked.

“Sure Ryu-chan, you could tell me anything. Maybe we could have an actual conversation.”

“Um…a conversation?”

“Yeah, you know, one of those things that involves us taking turns speaking, and it goes on for a decent length of time.”

“Ai shiteru.”

“See? We’re having a conversation right now. You just said…” Ken stopped mid-sentence and gaped at Ryu.

“Did you just say what I think you said?” Ken asked.

“I think so” Ryu responded. Ken's expression suddenly became serious. He turned away. Ryu started to worry.

“Ken, did I say something wrong?” Ryu asked. Ken didn’t respond. There was a long uncomfortable silence between them.

"*Ken, say something*" Ryu thought desperately, "*Now Ken knows I love him. Why isn’t he responding? I shouldn’t have blurted it out. He probably hates me now. Maybe he’s worried about Kazuki. I’m sure the kid is okay. Sensei could handle anything.*"

“Ken, are you okay?” Ryu asked.

“Huh?” Ken responded, “Oh, yeah. Um…Ryu-chan?”

“What is it?”

“What you told me uh…do you really feel that way?”

“Yes”

“Are you sure?”

“Ken, why do you doubt me? I’ve never been more sure of anything.”

Ken suddenly threw his arms around Ryu and whispered “Ai shiteru.”